Can Kaiser facility launch Birmingham's aerospace industry?

When it was announced in June Alabama would be sending representatives to the Farnborough International Air Show this month to court more investments from the aircraft industry, state officials said it was too early to discuss the state's plans for the critical industry event.

But after last week's announcement that Graham & Co.'s industrial team is now marketing the Kaiser Aircraft facility to international companies, there's no doubt the massive 180-acre site will figure into the state's plans for the air show, which starts July 14.

Graham & Co.'s Ogden Deaton said this week the Alabama delegation will be taking marketing materials to London that detail the site he described as “very unique.”

“It's hard to attract companies to Birmingham unless you have an existing facility,” Deaton said.

Also, Deaton said most of the property is paved with 12 inches of reinforced concrete that can store large pieces of equipment and aircraft.

“It's a pretty rare combination of air and interstate access,” Deaton said. “It would be very expensive to transform a piece of dirt into a pad like that.”

Alabama has already laid the foundation for the state becoming an aerospace capital, with the industry already established in Huntsville and the new $600 million Airbus production facility being built in Mobile.

“Our focus is going to be on the aerospace industry,” Deaton said.

Deaton believes Birmingham now has the right combination of a site and the labor force to attract a large company to the region.

“With the environment in the Southeast, particularly in Alabama and Birmingham, we know we can put good workers in those buildings,” he said. “We're hoping to lure a company from around the world to Birmingham.”

Deaton said the space that is available on the property could house up to two tenants, and he said there is enough land for some expansion on the site.

“There is enough road frontage that there can be multiple entrances into the property,” Deaton said.

He described the buildings as “versatile”, with the primary hangar taking up 1.2 million square feet, consisting of 10 pull-thru bays with 160-foot-wide by 725-foot-deep dimensions and 40-foot ceilings.

The property can house up to 42 737-800 type aircraft under roof.

Graham & Co. has been hired to market the site, but Deaton said it will be a team effort that will involve the Birmingham Business Alliance and the state.

“The Kaiser facility is a truly unique aviation industry asset, and we're excited to see Graham & Co. aggressively market the Birmingham region and this facility to the global aerospace and aviation community,” said Rick Davis, vice president of economic development with the Birmingham Business Alliance, in a statement.